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6.16.03
The Best of the Rest
Well, we have taken a look at the Tier 1 decks as well as the decks that have been rendered playable by Scourge, now it is time to take a look at the rest of the field for Origins. Just because these decks weren't included in the list of Tier 1 decks doesn't mean that these decks shouldn't be played. These decks all have their strong points and can win games - if you like one of these decks you should play it. It is more important to have confidence in the deck you play than in playing the strongest deck. Besides, people will play these decks and there isn't anyone who can perfectly read the metagame for every environment. Sligh/Deadguy Red I have to freely admit that I am in the minority by not including this deck in my list of Tier 1 builds. Sligh has historically been strong in PEZ and will continue to be. I feel, however, that straight Burn has better match-ups among against Pros-Tides and MBC. I should also mention that the burn deck included in the Tier 1 decks is not the optimal build but I will stand by my inclusion of Double Deal - it is the ultimate demoralizer. Even so, Sligh is no slouch and you can bet that a significant portion of the field will be playing these decks. 4 Mogg Raider 4 Mogg Fanatic 4 Raging Goblin 4 Mogg Flunkies 3 Sparksmith 2 Goblin Chariot 4 Lava Dart 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Goblin Grenade 3 Fireblast 2 Death Spark (Uncommon) 3 Browbeat (Uncommon) 4 Mishra's Factory 16 Mountain Sligh and Deadguy Red are pretty straightforward decks but if you want a primer on the deck check out my previous article on Sligh. Also, consider this deck as a template - there are a lot of alternate card choices out there and the mana curve of this deck is skewed to the left fairly strongly. As it stands, the deck is a lot better at an early rush and then a go for broke bid to win rather than at a stand up fight. This can easily be altered. Before talking about swapping cards I want to spend a moment dealing with one card in particular. Lava Dart is simply amazing in PEZ. First off, it has a large number of important targets and is particularly strong in the mirror match and against other weenie builds. Second, it is an insane boost against Pros-Tides. Yes, it is possible for Pros-Tides to win without Snapping the Faeries but it is certainly a lot more difficult. The fact that Lava Dart can avoid counters and that it costs so little is sick. As to the alternate card choices, they are numerous but some are also obvious. Reckless Charge is an amazingly powerful spell especially in a deck that already packs a good deal of removal. If you want to include the Charge, I would recommend dropping the Grenades to make room. Also, the Goblin Chariot could very easily be replaced with Phyrexian War Beast which is a better card all around. Also, don't forget that the Uncommon slots can be changed a lot. For example, both Pyrostatic Pillar and Spellshock are good choices, potentially very strong against Pros-Tides. Accelerated Green This deck is potentially very strong in the field except that it has little it can do against Pros-Tides. Main deck, Burn and MBC also have a good chance against it but, oddly enough, life gain in the side board can give it a big push for the second and third games. 3 Fyndhorn Elves 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Wall of Roots 4 River Boa 4 Phyrexian War Beast 4 Blastoderm 3 Uktabi Efreet 1 Wirewood Guardian 4 Krosan Tusker 4 Land Grant 4 Giant Growth 3 Invigorate 1 Hurricane (Uncommon) 4 Sol Ring (Uncommon) 4 Mishra's Factory 9 Forest Okay, I admit that Rancor is missing but I like the Boa's and War Beasts better - get over it. Basically, the deck plays out like any other Stompy deck but it is potentially a bitter faster to lay the fat. If you can get going, it is hard to stop and has a number of favorable matches. Don't be scared off by the fact that it runs only 9 Forests. In testing, I have rarely been forced to Paris and it tends not to hurt this deck much at all. Having said that, the deck's mana is vulnerable until about mid-game although Wall of Roots deserve to be MVP's. The good part about this build is that unlike some other Sol Ring based decks, this performs efficiently and admirably without the Rings. Then again, the double or triple Sol Ring Draw is also impressive. As a final note, mana Accelerated Green decks shy away from Giant Growth and Invigorate. Probably because of the inclusion of Blastoderms and the fact that the larger creatures get the less important these instants are. However, The Giant Growth and Invigorate are critical in protecting the Elves and weakened Walls from burn. Against non-Red and non-Black decks these cards can be used aggressively as well and never seem to be wasted. Draino Draino is similar to Accelerated Green in the fact that it is good at grabbing fat early. In addition the deck has just a taste of disruption that seems to put it over the top. When it comes to other UG Threshold/Madness decks, I must say that I prefer Draino. The deck simply reaches threshold much earlier and moves through the deck fast enough to generate the Roars more consistently. 4 Diligent Farmhand 4 Basking Rootwalla 4 Wild Mongrel 4 Werebear 4 Krosan Tusker 4 Roar of the Wurm 4 Land Grant 4 Lay of the Land 4 Aether Burst 1 Wonder 4 Tolarian Winds 15 Forest 4 Island Many people take a peak at this deck and the first thing they think starts with "where" and ends with " Mulch". Generally, Mulch is an amazing card for any type of Threshold build. In this deck, however, there are only 4 Island and you need to pull one early. In fact, my calculations indicate you would want about 8 Islands to have one by turn 2 consistently. Because of this, you really need the early cards that can tutor instead of just search. On the other hand, many players feel that Mulch is superior to Diligent Farmhand. Largely they are right but bringing in Muscle Burst from the sideboard can make some games really interesting. Another important note is that the Aether Bursts come very close to being left out in favor of a decent counter like Prohibit or Rites of Refusal. Sure the Bursts have added benefit against every creature deck in the format but they help little if at all against Burn, MBC, and Pros-Tides. On the other hand, any counterspell is almost always potentially useful and they are very useful against Burn, MBC, and Pros-Tides. Playing the deck is difficult because when you aren't drawing the right cards its like a watered down version of a Tier 2 deck. Something you really don't want to be playing. The critical thing to realize is that a single Tolarian Winds can change your outlook real fast. UR Walls While there are many other great decks out there that really deserve to see play, the last one I am going to look at in this article is UR Walls - my pick for the best Rogue deck and potential spoiler. Most players discarded UR Walls when the Council banned Library of Alexandria. I have recently changed my mind, the build looks something like this: 4 Wall of Diffusion 4 Wall of Earth 4 Yotian Soldier 2 Mistform Wall 3 Wall of Heat 3 Fire Whip 4 Quicksilver Dagger 4 Opt 1 Capsize 3 Curiosity 2 Forbid 8 Mountain 11 Island 4 Mishra's Factory 3 Maze of Ith Notice that I said the build looks something like this. That is because I have just recently began to explore this deck and the build has not yet been nailed down, these are just my first impressions. The purpose of the deck is to play walls to slow the ground game and ping for the win. The Quicksilver Daggers and Curiosity help to speed through the deck and find Forbid to stave off mid-game threats. The weakness of the deck is its reliance on enchantments and the fact that it needs to maintain three separate groups of cards for the win. Most obviously, the deck may need Feldon's Cane. It may also benefit from the more expensive search in the form of Impulse. Costal Piracy may also be superior to Curiosity. However the final build breaks down it should be a strong deck for the field. It matches up well with most creature decks, except perhaps Reanimate, but also packs disruption, especially in the SB, for the Tier 1 low creature builds. Well, there you have it. I think this is about 12 strong decks for Origins and I didn't even mention a number of other decks that I expect to see - Standard Stompy, Suicide Black, Ponza, Land Destruction, Birds, Elves, etc. See you next week! Jason Chapman - chaps_man@hotmail.com
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